Holiday Leads Sixers Past Rockets

Jrue Holiday scored 20 points to lead seven 76ers in double-figures and Philadelphia rallied from an early 12-point deficit to beat the Houston Rockets 114-105 on Wednesday night.

Lou Williams and Thaddeus Young scored 19 points apiece, and Spencer Hawes had 17 points and 10 rebounds for the Sixers, who shot 55 percent (48 of 87) from the field and had a 50-40 rebounding edge.

The Sixers have won three straight games in Houston for the first time in franchise history.

Kyle Lowry scored a career-high 36 points and Luis Scola added 26 points and 13 rebounds for the Rockets. Lowry went 15 for 18 from the field, including a career-high six 3-pointers.

Andre Iguodala had 13 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists for the 76ers, his first triple-double this season.

The Rockets hit four 3-pointers in the first 5 minutes and jumped to an 18-6 lead. The Sixers answered with a 12-0 run, capped by Elton Brand's dunk at the end of a fast break.

Lowry sank his third 3 and Houston's sixth early in the second quarter. The Rockets came into the game ranked sixth in 3-pointers made this season (449).

Philadelphia hit 7 of its first 9 shots in the second quarter, and the Sixers moved ahead. Igoudala banked in a shot from near midcourt at the halftime buzzer to put Philadelphia up 55-52.

The Sixers shot 61.5 percent (24 of 39) from the field in the first half. Houston stayed closed by going 8 for 19 from 3-point range in the half.

Philadelphia continued to shoot well in the third quarter to keep the lead. The Rockets kept pace by forcing four turnovers in the first 6 minutes out of the break.

Evan Turner scored in the lane, then finished a fast break with a layup to put the Sixers up 79-71, their biggest lead to that point.

Scola scored 14 of Houston's 26 points in the third, but the Rockets went 0 for 5 from 3-point range to trail 86-78 heading to the fourth.

Williams scored twice before Young ended another Philly fast break with a one-handed dunk to make it 99-88 with 5 minutes left.

Scola scored inside and Lowry cut inside for two layups to trim Houston's deficit to five. The Sixers responded with a clinching 8-2 spurt, capped by Holiday's pull-up jumper with 1:07 left.


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